Integrated circuit modeling method using resistive capacitance information

Abstract

A method of modeling an integrated circuit comprises generating a schematic of an integrated circuit comprising a first circuit component. The schematic comprises a first representation of the first circuit component. The method also comprises replacing the first representation with a second representation of the first circuit component. The second representation includes resistive capacitance information (RC) for the first circuit component. The RC information is based on first RC data included in a process design kit (PDK) file and second RC data included in a macro device file. The second RC data is based on a relationship between the first circuit component and a second circuit component. The method further comprises selectively coloring the second representation of the first circuit component in the schematic based on the RC information. The coloring of the second representation is indicative of whether the integrated circuit is in compliance with a design specification.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of modeling an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
 including an application programming interface (API) in an integrated circuit design system comprising a processor; and 
 using the processor:
 generating a schematic of an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit comprising a first circuit component, the schematic comprising a first representation of the first circuit component; 
 replacing, in the schematic, the first representation of the first circuit component with a second representation of the first circuit component, the second representation including resistive capacitance (RC) information for the first circuit component, wherein the RC information is based on first RC data included in a process design kit (PDK) file corresponding to the first circuit component and second RC data included in a macro device file corresponding to the first circuit component, and the second RC data is based on a relationship between the first circuit component and a second circuit component; 
 using the API:
 generating a component description format (CDF) file based on data included in the macro device file; and 
 adding the CDF file to the PDK file; and 
 
 selectively coloring the second representation of the first circuit component in the schematic based on the RC information, 
 
 wherein 
 the coloring of the second representation is indicative of whether the integrated circuit is in compliance with a design specification, and 
 the second representation of the first circuit component is selectively colored based on an instruction included in the CDF file. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first circuit component is coupled with the second circuit component, and the macro device file comprises data describing a connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the data describing the connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component comprises an RC value associated with the connection, the method further comprising:
 generating, using the processor, the second representation of the first circuit component by coupling a first symbol representative of the first circuit component with a second symbol representative of the connection, 
 wherein the first symbol is included in the PDK file. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 assigning, using the processor, a color scheme to the connection based on the RC value associated with the connection, 
 wherein the data describing the connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component further comprises the assigned color scheme, and the instruction included in the CDF is executed by the processor such that the second symbol of the second representation of the first circuit component is colored in accordance with the color scheme assigned to the connection. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein the API is a plug-in to a PDK library, the PDK library includes the PDK file, and the macro device file includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the integrated circuit design system to detect the color scheme assigned to the connection and to include the color scheme assigned to the connection in the CDF file, thereby enabling the second symbol of the second representation of the first circuit component to be colored in accordance with the color scheme assigned to the connection. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the PDK file is modified based on the macro device file to include a control module configured to selectively activate the coupling of the second symbol representative of the connection and the coloring of the second representation of the first circuit component. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the PDK file further comprises an RC data structure including the first RC data, the RC data structure comprises the first RC data, and the method further comprises:
 revising, using the API, the RC data structure by annotating the first RC data with the second RC data, 
 
       wherein the RC information is determined using the annotated first RC data. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the including the API comprises adding the API to the integrated circuit modeling system as a plug-in API. 
     
     
       9. A method of modeling an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
 including a first application programming interface (API) in an integrated circuit design system comprising a processor; and 
 using the processor:
 generating a schematic of an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit comprising a first circuit component, the schematic comprising a first representation of the first circuit component; 
 replacing, in the schematic, the first representation of the first circuit component with a second representation of the first circuit component, the second representation including resistive capacitance (RC) information for the first circuit component, wherein the RC information is based on first RC data included in a process design kit (PDK) file corresponding to the first circuit component and second RC data included in a macro device file corresponding to the first circuit component, and the second RC data is based on a relationship between the first circuit component and a second circuit component; and 
 using the first API, selectively coloring the second representation of the first circuit component in the schematic based on the RC information and a PDK constraint code used to route a connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component, 
 
 wherein the coloring of the second representation is indicative of whether the integrated circuit is in compliance with a design specification. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising, using a second API:
 generating a component description format (CDF) file based on data included in the macro device file; and 
 adding the CDF file to the PDK file, 
 wherein a first portion of the second representation of the first circuit component is selectively colored based on an instruction included in the CDF file, and a second portion of the second representation of the first circuit component is selectively colored based on the PDK constraint code. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the macro device file comprises data describing the connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component, the data describing the connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component comprises an RC value associated with the connection, and the method further comprises:
 generating, using the processor, the second representation of the first circuit component by coupling a first symbol representative of the first circuit component with a second symbol representative of the connection, 
 wherein the first symbol is included in the PDK file. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 using the processor, assigning a color scheme to the connection based on the RC value, 
 wherein the PDK constraint code includes the assigned color scheme, and the second symbol of the second representation of the first circuit component is caused to be colored in accordance with the color scheme assigned to the connection by executing the PDK constraint code. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the second API is a plug-in to a PDK library, the PDK library includes the PDK file, and the macro device file includes instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the circuit design system to detect the color scheme assigned to the connection and to include the color scheme assigned to the connection in the PDK constraint code, thereby enabling the second symbol of the second representation of the first circuit component to be colored in accordance with the color scheme assigned to the connection. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the PDK file is modified based on the macro device file to include the PDK constraint code. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the PDK file further comprises an RC data structure including the first RC data, the RC data structure comprises the first RC data, and the method further comprises:
 revising, using a second API included in the integrated circuit design system, the RC data structure by annotating the first RC data with the second RC data, 
 wherein the RC information is determined using the annotated first RC data. 
 
     
     
       16. A method of modeling an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
 including a first application programming interface (API) in an integrated circuit design system comprising a processor; and 
 using the processor:
 generating a schematic of an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit comprising a first circuit component, the schematic comprising a first representation of the first circuit component; 
 replacing, in the schematic, the first representation of the first circuit component with a second representation of the first circuit component, the second representation including resistive capacitance (RC) information for the first circuit component, the RC information being included in a process design kit (PDK) file corresponding to the first circuit component; and 
 using the first API, selectively coloring the second representation of the first circuit component in the schematic based on the RC information and a constraint code used to route a connection between the first circuit component and a second circuit component, 
 
 wherein the coloring of the second representation is indicative of whether the integrated circuit is in compliance with a design specification. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein
 a first portion of the second representation of the first circuit component is selectively colored based on an instruction included in a macro device file, and 
 a second portion of the second representation of the first circuit component is selectively colored based on the constraint code. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the macro device file comprises data describing the connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component, the data describing the connection between the first circuit component and the second circuit component comprises an RC value associated with the connection, and the method further comprises:
 generating, using the processor, the second representation of the first circuit component by coupling a first symbol representative of the first circuit component with a second symbol representative of the connection, 
 wherein the first symbol is included in the PDK file. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 assigning, using the processor, a color scheme to the connection based on the RC value, 
 wherein the constraint code includes the assigned color scheme, and the second symbol of the second representation of the first circuit component is caused to be colored in accordance with the color scheme assigned to the connection by executing the constraint code. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the constraint code is generated by a second API in the integrated circuit design system, the second API comprises instructions to interact with the first API, the first API is in communication with the integrated circuit design system, the first API comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the integrated circuit design system to detect the color scheme assigned to the connection and to include the color scheme assigned to the connection in the constraint code, thereby enabling the second symbol of the second representation of the first circuit component to be colored in accordance with the color scheme assigned to the connection.